Following is the summary of the general process related to player assignments to summer teams.
All players wishing to play on a summer travel team are required to register on-line. On this form, players indicated whether they wished to try out for a Suburban Youth Baseball League travel team, or if they wished to play on a Westwood team in the Upper Charles River League, which carries less stringent attendance requirements than those of the A and B teams.
All candidates for an A or B team will be considered for selection on one of those teams based on skills demonstrated during the current Westwood Little League season as well as attitude and coachability. In addition, players 9-12 are also asked to attend an on-field skills evaluation for summer A and B candidates. On-field evaluations are conducted by all spring head coaches at this work out. A and B team rosters are to consist of twelve players.
Once all spring coaches submitted written evaluations of each of their players, and the on-field skills evaluations were conducted, there is a meeting to select the summer A and B teams at each respective age group. The meeting is conducted by the league coordinator nearest that age group and each meeting is supervised by a WLL board member without a child in that particular age group. All spring head coaches in each age group are asked to attend their respective meeting.
Spring evaluations are made available or distributed to all attendees at the meeting, as are as the ratings from the on-field skills evaluations. At the beginning of the meeting, the coordinator leads a general discussion of the leagues, the teams, and the player candidates for selection on the teams. After a group discussion, a series of written, secret ballot votes is taken to form the A team.
The actual voting process for each age group may differ slightly given various circumstances unique to each group, but by way of example, the first round of voting may consist of each coach voting for eight players. Based on those votes, the coordinator and the independent board supervisor determine which players have a clear consensus for making the team. The basis for this determination is discussed with the group and subsequently approved. Those players are then placed on the A team, and all other players else go back in the pool of available players. As the available roster spots decrease, so do the size of the votes. For example, if there was a clear consensus on six players in the first vote, there are six roster spots left for that team. The next vote may have been for six players, and a clear consensus may only be reached on three players, and so forth. After each round of votes, a group discussion of available players precedes the next round of votes.
Once the A team is selected, the same process is repeated for the B teams.
